News and Media

Article By: Darren Miller
Published: Mar 31, 2011


SCAD's mission "to prepare talented students for professional careers" is more than a philosophical ideal or theoretical goal. It is SCAD's raison d'être. It is a credo that every day informs and influences every endeavor. And evidence of this modus operandi will be on full display April 8 at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center as thousands of students and alumni engage with representatives from local, national and global companies seeking interns, freelance artists and designers, and full-time employees.

"The SCAD Career Fair definitely epitomizes the SCAD mission," said Alison Hopton Davis, associate vice president for career and alumni success, "and it keeps growing exponentially every year."

After modest beginnings on the third floor of Ex Libris in 2000, the SCAD Career Fair is now in its 11th year and entering its fourth year at the appreciably larger space of the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center, easily accommodating an increasing number of employers and attendees each year.

The SCAD Career Fair 2011 will feature 105 companies - a 30 percent increase from last year - including Apple and Google. In many instances, SCAD alumni working at these companies return to the career fair as representatives and recruiters. In addition, SCAD will be seeking candidates to fill open staff positions with the university, and the SCAD Working Class Studio will have representatives available to discuss its internship program.

"Not only are we bringing in a diverse and high-quality group of companies, but we are also preparing students to make the most of the SCAD Career Fair," Hopton Davis said.

Through individual sessions and group workshops, advisers from the office for career and alumni success work with students in advance of the SCAD Career Fair to polish résumés and portfolios, hone interviewing skills, encourage research of target companies, develop "elevator pitches" and provide an array of tips to consider before, during and after the event. (Visit the Career Fair students page and select the Preparation tab to review invaluable recommendations.)

"We are not a placement agency," Hopton Davis said, "but we prepare students to find the right opportunities and meet their career goals through coaching, counseling and all the other resources we have."

Each year, such preparation leads to connections that lead to jobs and internships for SCAD Career Fair attendees.

"Sometimes being in the right place at the right time can be exactly right," said B.F.A. advertising student Michele Weiner. "I walked into the career fair with a handful of leave-behinds, and I had an internship offer from Ogilvy the following Tuesday. Employers who come have positions to fill!"

Justin Adu (M.A., advertising, 2011) traveled down to Savannah from SCAD Atlanta last year for the fair and set his career search in motion.

"I had the opportunity to meet a wide variety of employers eager to talk to me about current or future openings for full-time and part-time positions, career-building internships and emerging opportunities in advertising," Adu said. "From that experience, I was able to land an internship with a top advertising agency and was recently hired as an art director by the same company."

Nancy Tanneberg, career adviser and coordinator of the SCAD Career Fair 2011, expects participation among students and alumni to rise this year, anticipating the number of attendees to swell from 1,800 last year to more than 2,000. In order to maximize the time of the large group of employers converging on Savannah that day, SCAD has chartered two buses to transport students to the event from SCAD Atlanta. Tanneberg and Hopton Davis attribute the increased interest to a strong outreach effort and the launch of a comprehensive website that features all participating companies, schedules, tips for students and other pertinent information.

A new addition at the SCAD Career Fair 2011 is the involvement of 16 non-profit organizations with major-specific service opportunities. These are geared especially for undergraduate students who are encouraged to meet the representatives and consider all options. A full slate of workshops, open to all attendees (online registration is encouraged), will be offered throughout the day. The event concludes with an "alumni huddle," which will feature a panel of SCAD graduates sharing their career experiences and advice.

"There is truly something for everyone, something for every major," Tanneberg said.